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Quoted in Publication

Jeff Ifrah Quoted on Why Fanduel and DraftKings Are the Targeted DFS Operators in NY

Max Willens

International Business Times

November 19, 2015

Over the past week, New York’s more committed daily fantasy sports players have probably noticed that in his quest to wipe out daily fantasy sports in the state of New York, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman may have missed a few spots. Schneiderman contends the practice violates the state’s century-old prohibition on sports betting, and he has sought to put a stop to it. But while FanDuel suspended its New York operations, and DraftKings has been called on to do the same, it takes minimal effort to find other daily fantasy games online through a number of different operators, including one owned by USA Today.

According to the New York Times, Schneiderman’s office added a third company, Yahoo Inc., to the list of companies that have been subpoenaed on Monday afternoon. But gaming attorneys and experts report that the attorney general may not have to target everybody by name to take out the nascent industry.

“I don’t think this is like a game of whack-a-mole,” said Jeff Ifrah, a Washington-based gaming attorney who is licensed to practice in New York State. “You can bring complaints against the vast majority of the industry and hope the industry falls into line.”

FanDuel and DraftKings represent the overwhelming market leaders. A report released today by the daily fantasy analytics company SuperLobby shows those two companies comprise 98 percent of the daily fantasy activity around NBA games and players.